


Tyro - Pet Store

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1031]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 00:38:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Tony needs a break from the city life and moves to a small town where he meets the town grump, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and ends up staying.





	Tyro - Pet Store

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TT_Angst_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [TT_Angst_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/pseuds/TT_Angst_Queen) in the [NCIS_Prompts_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/NCIS_Prompts_2017) collection. 



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 02/25/2002 for the word [tyro](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2002/02/25/tyro).
> 
> tyro  
> A beginner in learning; a novice.
> 
> This was requested by Tardis_Type40 as part of my 2017 prompt challenge. You can prompt me in 2018 [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile) by clicking the sign up link.
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Gibbs is a bitter veteran with a prosthetic leg and a chip on his shoulder, living in a small town, where he is the town grump and almost mute. Tony DiNozzo is the town's new pet shop owner. Gibbs meets him and falls in love.
> 
> **End Prompt**
> 
> As always comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

# 

Tyro - Pet Store

Tony couldn't believe his luck. He'd needed a change of pace and this certainly was one. He hadn't been certain when his friend suggested it, but looking at the store, now, he knew it was perfect.

He maybe a tyro when it came to a pet store, but he'd run many different types of stores before. His favorite by far had been the movie store. He hoped the pet store would be even better than the movie store.

So far everyone in the town seemed friendly. He looked forward to the change of pace that small town life would bring over the big city life he was used to. The door hung open as he setup the shop and he’d attracted a lot of curious people as was the nature when anything new arrived in a small town.

Tony had expected the curiosity. What he hadn’t expected were the warnings people would give him about a fellow named Gibbs after they decided he was good people in the words of one precocious child. According to more friendly people than he could count, this Gibbs was the town grump and frequently chased away newcomers by making them feel unwelcome.

Tony shrugged it off. He’d never been one to make assumptions about a person before meeting them. Everyone he talked to about Gibbs agreed he was the town grump, but Tony wouldn’t believe that until he saw it. After the first few days, Tony started to feel settled in.

The pet shop was completely unpacked and he had a number of cute adorable kittens, puppies, hamster, etc on display. He also had a few lizards and snakes for those not interested in the cute and adorable. His home wasn’t unpacked at all, but the key pieces were unpacked and the rest were still in boxes in the garage to be unpacked as he had time.

He fully expected to unpack a few boxes each day and then be completely unpacked in a couple of weeks even with keeping his store open 7 days a week. After he got to know the town better, he’d close down on a couple of days perhaps. It would depend on how frequently people came in on each day.

He’d seen a number of kids excited about his shop. Apparently there weren’t many pets around here, right now. It was, yet, another reason that this was the perfect place for his pet shop.

Already, he’d had a few interested kids that had fallen in love with a kitten or puppy and wanted to take one home. They’d promised to bring their parents back to buy the kitten or puppy for them. Tony had smiled at them and watched them leave happily.

He hadn’t made any sales, yet, but it was early. He hadn’t expected to make any sales for the first few days. Hopefully by the end of the week, he’d have found a few families to take an animal home.

Of course, as with all things it was too good to be true. Tony heard a loud crash as he was in the process of making sure that the new family had everything they needed to take care of their puppy. Tony looked in the direction of the loud noise worriedly.

Still he pasted a smile on his face and finished with the customer before going to check it out. Tony stared at his broken shelves in dismay. Apparently the shelves weren’t designed to hold the weight of some of his heavier items. He didn’t have room to keep all the heavy items on the floor though, so he didn’t know what to do.

He’d lucked out and none of the items had broken. They were just all on the floor now and had made an awful racket as they landed. It had scared a couple of the animals nearby as well and Tony took a few minutes to calm them down and get them settled back in their spots away from the mess.

He’d completely forgotten about the customer he’d been helping until the wife spoke up, “You should see Gibbs.”

“Eh? What?” Tony turned around to face the family again. “I thought he was the town grump.”

“Oh, he is, but there’s no one better with wood than him. He’ll be able to get you fixed up, right away.”

“Thanks. Where would I find this Gibbs? I haven’t seen him in the shop.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t. With his PTSD, he mostly keeps to himself at the edge of town in a log cabin. You can’t miss it.” The husband butted in.

“Thank you!” Tony escorted the family out of his store and flipped his be back later sign, locking the shop doors as he headed off to find this Gibbs and see what could be done about his shelves.

Gibbs’ leg was acting up again. He’d settled onto his stool to ease as much pain as he could, but the pain still flared up whenever he moved. That didn’t stop him from continuing to work on his boat.

It just meant he scowled at anything and everything and took out his frustration and pain on any poor souls that wandered into his shop. The prosthetic leg was supposed to help. However, it pretty much only made walking a possibility.

Human flesh wasn’t designed to interact with electronics. Gibbs considered the pain a small price to pay. Many of his fellow marines, including his commanding officer, died during Desert Storm.

Someone rapped loudly on his door and Gibbs immediately braced himself as memories of the war flashed through his mind. When he came back from his memories and realized he was in his workshop and the war was over, he noticed a stranger standing in his workshop. Probably, the idiot who had knocked on his door and started the flashback.

“What are you doing here? Get lost.” Gibbs snarled.

“I guess they weren’t lying when they said you were grumpy.” Tony muttered under his breath. “Sorry. I knocked, but there was no answer and your door was unlocked.”

“You must be new. Everyone knows not to knock. That’s why the door is unlocked.” Gibbs sharpened his glare, attempting to send deadly knives at this intruder out of his eyes.

“I am.” Tony scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Tony DiNozzo, “ Tony held out his hand, “I just opened up a pet shop in town.”

“Why are you still here?” Gibbs growled, ignoring the hand. He just wanted to be left alone.

“I had a mishap with some shelves.”

“So?” Gibbs barked impatiently.

“The Sanderson family suggested you would be able to help.”

“What do you need?” Gibbs folded his arms, glaring impatiently.

“About 4 shelves wide enough to hold aquariums and strong enough to support aquariums, 50 pounds of dog/cat food, or equivalent.”

“Go on! Get out of here. I have work to do.” Gibbs snarled.

Tony eyed Gibbs warily, but turned to leave.

“Next time, just walk in. Don’t knock.” Gibbs tossed out as Tony left and he turned his attention to what he would need to complete the shelves Tony needed.

It was only after Tony left that Gibbs allowed himself to consider how hot Tony had been. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, but if he had been his cock would have already been at attention. Fortunately, he didn’t get turned on that easily anymore.

Still Gibbs wasn’t used to being turned on, at all, anymore. There was no one in this town that he felt any attraction for. Or at least, there hadn’t been.

Tony shook his head and wondered what was going on with Gibbs. It was clear the guy had been having a flashback of some sort and Tony couldn’t help noticing his prosthetic leg. There was more going on with Gibbs than just the town grump.

Tony tried to put Gibbs out of his mind as he worked on cleaning up the mess made when the old shelves broke. The open sign had been put back up, but no one had come in, yet. So Tony was trying to clean the shop up.

He’d piled things as nicely as he could without the shelves. He’d cleaned up the wood and dumped it into the trash. After that, he had nothing to occupy his mind and he drifted back to thinking about Gibbs.

There was something about the man that he couldn’t put his finger on, but he was intrigued. He was positive that the man had to be in pain, but aside from his harsh and grumpy nature, he’d shown no signs of it. Tony couldn’t help wondering what their next meeting would be like.

Gibbs had a ton of wood at all times. Most of the time, he cut and sealed the wood himself from trees on his property. However, he also had a number of pieces of wood that the village brought him in exchange for his finished furniture pieces that he turned out when he wasn’t working on his boat.

He had a pretty good system worked out with the village. They would deliver requests for handmade furniture to him and he’d make them to the specifications. He also made his own pieces, which a couple of villagers would then pick up and deliver to one of the stores to sell.

His share of the sale would then be dropped off the next time they stopped by to pick up new furniture. Someone also made sure his fridge was stocked. He never went to the grocery store.

In fact, it was practically unheard of for Gibbs to venture in to town. He always ordered the same things and never changed his mind. He was well known to be grumpy, standoffish, and practically mute.

So when they saw Gibbs walking down the main street of town, it attracted a lot of attention. Gibbs ignored the stares. He knew how rare this was.

He’d found he couldn’t stay away from Tony, though. He wanted to know more about the young man. So instead of having one of the villagers deliver Tony’s new shelves, Gibbs had decided to do it himself.

When he entered the shop, Tony was already with a customer. Tony looked up and offered Gibbs a smile, “I’ll be with you shortly.”

Gibbs nodded and stood off to the side, watching how Tony interacted with the villagers. Tony had a sureness about him that was attractive to Tony. Gibbs couldn’t help noticing how gentle Tony was with the children.

Gibbs couldn’t help wondering what Tony would have been like with his daughter Kelly. He would never know, of course, but based on what he was saying. Gibbs felt that Tony and Kelly would have gotten along well.

Gibbs missed Kelly and he missed his wife Shannon too. Unfortunately, they’d died many years ago in a freak landslide. Ever since his discharge and the loss of his family, Gibbs had become recalcitrant and did his best to push everyone away.

Maybe it was time to change that. Tony may just be the one who could give him a reason to change. Gibbs hoped he was.

Tony finished with the family and waved to them as they left with their new hamster. With a broad smile, Tony turned to Gibbs. “How can I help you?”

Gibbs just grunted and gestured to the shelves.

“Oh, of course. Right this way.” Tony led the way to the broken shelves. Together they mounted the shelves on the wall and Tony placed his stock back where it should have gone.

Gibbs looked around the pet shop. He was impressed with the organization and could see how it would be hard to leave without buying an animal. He realized that his new shelves didn’t match the old shelves and they stood out.

“I’ll make matching shelves to go with these 4 and replace the others.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

Gibbs just grunted and turned to leave, fully intending to make some more shelves to go with the ones he just made.

“Really, I can’t afford to pay you for new shelves, right now.”

Gibbs didn’t answer. He continued back to his house to start work on the additional shelves. Tony stared after Gibbs in confusion.

He hoped that Gibbs had listened and wouldn’t be making more shelves. Tony had no idea how he’d pay for more shelves. He had some business now, but he wasn’t flush by any stretch of the imagination.

Tony worried about the shelves all day. By the time, he closed the shop for the evening, he’d made a decision. Grabbing an orange tabby kitten, Tony headed over to Gibbs’ place.

This time, he walked in without knocking. Venturing down to the basement, Tony settled on the bottom step. It was obvious Gibbs was working on additional shelves.

“I thought I told you not to make more shelves.”

Gibbs grunted. He wasn’t going to explain that he was making the shelves as a gift because he liked Tony. He just continued to work on the shelves.

“You know, I’m not going to leave just because you ignore me.” Tony petted the kitten in his arms. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure if he should go forward with his plan.

Gibbs ignored Tony. He was sure Tony would leave and if he didn’t, Gibbs wouldn’t mind. Gibbs focused on the shelves, so that he wouldn’t give anything away.

His visit to the pet store had already revealed too much. If Tony bothered to ask anyone in the village, they would tell him how unusual Gibbs’ visit really was. Gibbs was paying for his visit too.

He’d immediately iced his leg where his flesh met the prosthetic as soon as he got home to try and reduce the pain. He’d overdone it visiting the pet shop, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He still wanted to know more about Tony, but he’d taken the first step at least.

Tony couldn’t decide if he should give the kitten to Gibbs like he’d originally intended or not. He stared at Gibbs’ broad shoulders and couldn’t help getting a little mesmerized as he watched the muscles in Gibbs’ shoulders stretch and flex as Gibbs worked on the shelves. He absentmindedly petted the kitten while he watched.

“What are you doing?” Tony questioned softly, curious about Gibbs’ process with the wood.

“What does it look like?”

“You’re working the wood?” Tony leered.

Gibbs shook his head. “You know nothing about woodworking, don’t you?”

“Yep.” Tony chirped happily.

“Come here.” Gibbs ordered.

Tony stood up quickly, forgetting about the kitten and the kitten mewed in protest as it landed on the floor. Tony bent down to pick it up and Gibbs checked out Tony’s ass as he bent over. Tony caught Gibbs looking as he looked over his shoulder as he stood back up.

Oddly that made up Tony’s mind. Holding the kitten out, Tony offered, “I brought you a present.”

“What do I need with a cat?”

“Come on, Gibbs. You live alone. Even you need companionship.”

Gibbs eyed Tony. “I’ll only accept it if you promise to make house calls to make sure the kitten is properly taken care of.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s not hard to take care of a kitten, but I’m happy to help you with whatever you need.”

Gibbs lifted the cat from Tony’s arms and set it on his workbench to explore it’s new home if it wished. “I’m going to have to update my standard grocery order.” Gibbs muttered softly.

“What?”

“The cat is going to need things.” Gibbs grumbled.

“You can’t just call it the cat. It needs a name.”

“Cat is fine.” Gibbs grouched, already contemplating what the village would think if he changed his grocery order, especially given his trip into town today. “Weren’t you wanting to learn about woodworking, anyway?”

“I’m not leaving until you’ve given the kitten an appropriate name,” Tony warned, “ but I’m also interested in your woodworking.”

Gibbs shook his head and positioned Tony in front of him. Gibbs pressed up against Tony, so that their full bodies touched and guided Tony’s hand to the wood and showed him how to sand the wood.

“Is this how you teach everyone?”

“Only the ones I’m attracted to.” Gibbs rubbed his hardening cock against Tony’s ass to prove his point.

“Oh really?” Tony turned around to face Gibbs for this conversation. “You looking for a fuckbuddy?”

“A fuckbuddy?” Gibbs asked confused by the term.

Tony rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help wondering how isolated Gibbs had been if he didn’t know that term. It was definitely a common term in the city. “No strings attached sex, friends with benefits?”

Gibbs hard stare drilled into Tony’s body and Tony couldn’t help his visceral reaction as his own cock hardened. “No.”

“You sure?” Tony slid up Gibbs body with his own body. “I’m very good at no strings sex.”

“I want strings.” Gibbs glared.

“What? Really?” Shock spread across Tony’s face. No one had ever wanted a relationship with him. They always wanted to just use him for a fun time.

Gibbs grunted. “Date. You. Me. Tomorrow. 7pm.”

Tony blushed. “Uh, sure.”

Gibbs made a mental note to refrain from sex until Tony truly understood that Gibbs wanted to date him not just have sex with him. Tony shook his head to clear his mind.

“You’re not getting off that easily. You still have to name the kitten.”

“You name it.”

“I can’t name it. It’s your cat.”

“You’re the one who thinks it needs a name. You name it.” Gibbs grumbled, though if one looked closely they would notice a smile trying to sneak onto Gibbs face at the corner of his lips.

“Nope. You have to name it, mister.”

“Jethro.”

“You’re naming the cat, Jethro?” Tony shot Gibbs a confused look.

“No. My name is Jethro. The cat’s name is cat.”

“You can’t name it, cat, Jethro.”

Gibbs couldn’t stop the smile at hearing his name from Tony’s mouth.

“Look at it’s cute face,” Tony held the kitten up to Gibbs, “ how can you deny it a name?”

Gibbs remembered a similar conversation with his daughter Kelly over a stray they’d taken in. Kelly had finally named the mangy dog, bear, after getting fed up with him. He didn’t think Tony would give in as easily as his daughter had though.

He stared at the orange tabby kitten and gave it some serious consideration. The kitten poked it’s nose into Gibbs’ various tools. Finally, he decided, “Fara.”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful cat.” Tony agreed.

Gibbs nodded. “I hope you brought starter supplies for Fara.”

“Actually…” Tony trailed off as he headed up the stairs to grab the bag he’d left there. “This should cover everything you need to start with.”

Gibbs nodded his thanks. “You best be getting back. Wouldn’t want you to be late for our date tomorrow because you didn’t get enough sleep.” Gibbs teased.

Tony smiled and headed home. He hadn’t come to this town looking for a relationship, but he couldn’t help feeling that he was right where he was supposed to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, I'm looking for some writing buddies. Full details are [here](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/53610.html). It is friends locked, so you'll have to add me as a friend on lj before you can read it. 
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 
> 
> My 2018 Prompt collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;)
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> Feel free to leave feedback here if you think something could be improved(either in the prompt process or the story itself).


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